Usually, the tips we get at Ripten HQ have headlines crazy enough (like “Duke Nukem Forever to be released this decade”) that we have to take them with a grain of salt, but with two of the games in the above image already being rumored to arrive on Xbox Live Arcade, and one of them actually being on Xbox Live Arcade already, we can probably take this rumor with the whole can of Morton’s.

In Late March, the Pan European Game Information board listed Call of Duty for Xbox Live Arcade and the Playstation Network, but that information has since been delisted. Last week, the ESRB listed Shinobi for the Xbox 360 as well, even though SEGA hadn’t mentioned anything about the game. No one has said anything about Transformers: Origins, and according to the internet, the game doesn’t even exist. It’s not listed anywhere, and not even rumored to exist. Come on, tri-dub- you can do better than that.

If these games do exist, I bet that they’ll concur with the releases of other games in their franchises. Transformers will probably come out when Revenge of the Fallen does, Call of Duty will probably re-release when Modern Warfare 2 comes out. And Shinobi’s advent will probably coincide with the Ninja Insurrection of 2011.

It’s coming.

The ESRB has never been an impenetrable fortress of information, and the fact that they have a search function on their website doesn’t really help them keep things secret. Destructoid pointed our earlier today that the ESRB is now listing three Max Payne games, one being the poorly-recieved Max Payne Advance, and the other two being Max Payne 1 and 2, which are listed for the Xbox 360.

Since Rockstar announced Max Payne 3 a short time ago, they may be looking to release the previous games on Xbox Live in the same time frame as the third’s release in retail. Destructoid also pointed out that the games weren’t listed for the PS3, which could signal another exclusive for Microsoft. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see what Rockstar says on the matter.

Source; ESRB (via Destructoid)

Uhhh, the quirky headline and image should pretty much say it all, but if you need a little extra explaining, I’ll do my best. Midway has revealed three new MK vs. DC Universe Fatalities that I thought needed a little side by side comparison to their breakfast cereal mascot counterparts — Snap, Crackle, and Pop.

That’s right, Sonya snaps a neck, Catwoman cracks a whip, and Sub-Zero makes a frozen body go pop. I’m going to eat some Rice Krispies while I try my best to hold back tears of disappointment. ESRB for me to poop on.

Hit the jump and watch the video. Read more…

In the midst of all the Metacrtic user score bashing, you may have missed out on some fairly important Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe news. The Joker’s Gag Gun fatality that took the internet by storm has been reworked due to ESRB Teen rating scrutiny. Read more…

The ESRB are at it again! If you do a quick search for “Marvel vs. Capcom 2″ on the Entertainment Software Rating Board website, you’ll get some shocking results. Apparently, the game is slated to be available on “PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3″.

While we know it is already available on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, what’s new is the additions of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. So we know it’s coming to our next-gen platforms, but we just need to know a time now. Don’t get your hopes up for a disc-based release though, it will probably be downloadable.

Source

Sega reps won’t be showing the extreme gore-fest MadWorld at this year’s Tokyo Game Show, mostly due to the fact that it may be too extremely gore-festy for Japanese audiences.  The game is being developed with a western audience in mind and will only be evaluated for a release elsewhere if it becomes a hit. Read more…

Grand Theft Auto IV will be released in just about a week. It’s very likely taken over your very consciousness and the only reason that you still eat, sleep, and breathe is because you’d like to live just one more week.

But what about us kiddos that are under 17? Those of us that would have to hop on our bikes, see if the cashier forgets to ID us, complete the transaction, and then pedal like the devil was chasing us home?

What They Play and the MTV Multiplayer blog have spoken to several minors (anonymous and otherwise) who plan to get their hands on a copy Grand Theft Auto 4. Read on for some of their best schemes to beat the ESRB.

Read more…

Fight for your right to Mario Party!

Unlike the vast majority of politicians, Pennsylvania State Governor Ed Rendell is not a self-righteous prick when it comes to videogames. In fact, he supports the ESRB’s rating system, and he’ll even go on TV to prove it. Read more…

Nathaniel Edwards over at The Wii Playbox 360.3 (hey, that name’s too long) wrote up a nice little summary of what various candidates plan to do about mature gaming. Here are the highlights. Read more…

Over 10 days ago we reported that the ESRB had rated a Warhawk game for the PSP. I suggested that instead of being an exclusive PSP title, it would be the original PS1 Warhawk. I was right. Read more…

When you’re a Democrat running for President in a time of war, what’s the best way to score points with conservative Middle America? How about sniping at the videogame industry? Read more…